Gas leak capped in San Mateo

Updated 12:44 pm, Wednesday, April 17, 2013

(04-17) 12:43 PDT SAN MATEO -- A stretch of El Camino Real in San Mateo was closed to traffic for about three hours Wednesday because of a natural-gas leak, authorities said.

A construction crew digging near El Camino and Third Avenue hit a 2-inch steel gas-distribution line around 8:30 a.m., said Joe Molica, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The crew was not with PG&E and was working on a Caltrans project, he said.

The gas leak prompted an evacuation of two nearby buildings, a Union Bank and a Bank of America. El Camino was closed at Third Avenue while PG&E crews worked to stop the leak, officials said.